Yankees: El Gary shall not be forgotten

With all the talk surrounding the potential Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have batting back-to-back for the Yankees this summer, there’s a man who is reminding fans and opposing teams to not forget about him.

That man is Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.

It started the day position players reported to camp and Sanchez took batting practice.

He then showed he too should be a viable threat for opposing pitchers by hitting a home run beyond the scoreboard in center field of George M. Steinbrenner Field. And that’s not easy to do.

None of this should be new to fans seeing as the man came onto the scene with a bang and got some of the best calls from Yankees play-by-play announcer John Sterling, properly calling his home runs by saying “Gary is scary.”

More from Yankees News

• Yankees top prospects butt heads after Giants’ gritty win over Commanders
• CC Sabathia defends Yankees’ massive Aaron Judge contract
• Scott Boras closed Yankees-Carlos Rodón deal from Fenway Park, put cherry on top
• Orioles are bailing out Yankees and AL East by botching free agency
• Guy who caught Aaron Judge record HR ball cost himself tons of money in auction

Having played just 53 games in 2016, Sanchez hit 20 home runs and finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. Detroit Tigers’ starting pitcher Michael Fulmer ended up taking the award home, but Fulmer started 26 games that year. Finishing behind Sanchez was Cleveland Indians’ Tyler Naquin who played in 116 games — more than twice as many as Sanchez. 

In fact, Sanchez’ 53 home runs over the course of the last two seasons are the most for a catcher in the big leagues. It’s pretty remarkable given that ‘The Kraken’ has only played in 175 games — or in other words, 13 more games than one full season.

Somehow, Sanchez came onto the scene not so quietly and hadn’t let up any, but hasn’t gotten much attention for his batting prowess with Judge and Stanton bringing a combined 111 home runs over into the new year.

Sanchez’s consistent production and potential to have another 30 home run campaign go to show that there are hardly any holes in this year’s lineup, one that stands a good chance to break the all-time home run record.

Next: Yanks almost signed Neil Walker before Drury trade

https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/965286432834277377

Sanchez’s home run is the just the latest reminder that he too will make baseball fun in the Bronx this summer.